


wake up (i still need you)

by bleagledin



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, F/F, Female My Unit | Byleth, My Unit | Byleth Has Emotions, byleth cares alot, edeleth focused, edelgard swears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24859357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bleagledin/pseuds/bleagledin
Summary: edelgard von hresvelg has been living alone with her bodyguard byleth eisner for a whole decade now, the reason she has a bodyguard in the first place being that her family has been in the shady business industry for as long as she can remember.this tale simply contains a poor girl who everyday has to deal with the fact that people want her dead, and another girl that's very much capable of keeping her safe, what else could possibly happen in their lives?
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	wake up (i still need you)

**Author's Note:**

> this oneshot idea came from absolutely nowhere, i only decided to write it mainly because i have nothing better to do and i was interested in how the end result will be, so yeah!
> 
> a slight warning that my writing skills/grammar are.. mediocre at best, so i apologize for that in advance...
> 
> but, if you care not about how good or bad my writing is, then proceed if you are intrigued. i hope that you enjoy and that this creation of mine ends up being worth your time! (i guess)

edelgard looks outside her car window while slouched on the car seat, she feels her stomach growling but ignores it as it has become somewhat normal to her now.

edelgard doesn’t consider her appetite the best, she’s barely ever in the mood to actually eat something, most of the time she just forces herself to eat for the sake of not passing out. she thought she’s been doing a great job of hiding her hunger, only to be proven utterly wrong once again by the person driving this car everyday.

“miss hresvelg, you really should be eating something right now. you’re starving and i can tell” byleth eisner, edelgard’s bodyguard of 10 years speaks up. like usual, she can’t really tell if she’s only saying that or she’s actually being serious.

byleth looks up at the rear-view mirror and sees that edelgard doesn’t even move a bit, she sighs at her yet again failed attempt and continues on driving, knowing nothing will convince her.

“...there’s an energy bar at the left door’s pocket, please eat.” she still tries to make her eat anyway.

edelgard frowns at the request. the blue haired girl has been working for her father to protect her for years now, the woman’s concern has become something she’s gotten used to hearing at this point.

sure, byleth has shown great concern for her appetitte for a long time now, but edelgard never seems to have gotten used to it. she has become the type to never get use to other people’s kindness.

plus hey! byleth really is only being kind to her because it’s part of her job, right? not because she actually cares for her, right?

“it’s all just for the sake of the job for her edelgard, nothing else.” edelgard moves to grab the energy bar and does as she was told anyway.

edelgard doesn’t know why she followed byleth and started eating the energy bar, but she really only becomes aware of what she’s doing once she looked at the rear-view mirror and saw her guard smirking.

“i don’t know how i managed to make you eat, but you’re eating anyway so i’m not complaining” byleth slightly chuckles, her face turning serious again after a matter of seconds.

oh, so now she’s teasing her. edelgard raises her left brow with a comeback ready on her sleeves.

“funny, eisner. but i do remember you telling me that you respect me and that you never will dare to tease me, was i wrong this whole time? or have you really just grown attached to me?” edelgard gets very cometitive when teased, and teasing back has always been something she felt obliged to do.

edelgard doesn’t necessarily think about her comebacks, so long as she actually is able to deliver back a tease worthy of a win, this however causes her to cringe at the last part.

attached, seriously edelgard?

byleth doesn’t respond, but edelgard can see the slight blush forming in her guard’s face, that alone being more than enough for her to consider herself the winner of the competition that only she is aware of.

“don’t take that seriously tho, you are allowed to tease me as much as you like, i’m not some coward that gets offended easily so don’t worry” edelgard’s unsure whether or not byleth got offended or anything by what she said, but better safe than sorry.

but byleth slightly smiles, that actually is what she needed to hear and she’s quite surprised to see that edelgard actually thought about that.

the next few minutes is peaceful, byleth continues to focus on driving while edelgard lazily fiddles with her phone, still staring out the window. the two aren’t a talkative bunch, which makes the silence completely normal.

it would’ve been nice if the comfortable silence went on till they arrived home, but this day in particular just doesn’t seem to be in their favor.

all of a sudden, a black van speeds ahead of them and blocks their formerly clear way. edelgard jolts awake from her near slumber and figures out immediately what’s about to happen.

“oh for crying out loud, more people coming to kill me??” edelgard let’s out a frustrating sigh. she’s used to always being the murder target, heck she’s been experiencing it for a decade now, but the more and more it happens the more and more tiring it gets. you can get used to something annoying sure, but it doesn’t mean that you don’t get increasingly tired of it.

“edelgard! please stay there, let’s wait for them.. or him to come out” byleth takes the handgun she had previously placed on the car seat next to her and waits cautiously, constantly looking at edelgard on the rear-view mirror to make sure nothing escapes her sight.

the two wait almost impatiently for someone to get out of the van, and after some time, a lonely figure finally jumps out and shows up.

byleth’s face stays still and cautious, while edelgard’s eyebrows furrow at the sight of the man he never ever wanted to see again.

“ugh” edelgard rubs her eyes in annoyance. “not this fat fucking geezer again”

“stay here please, the guy has a gun ready to shoot you” byleth looks at edelgard quickly, making sure she got the message and leaves the car.

the situation may be dire, and the only thing edelgard should be focused on is the guy trying to kill her, but something about how byleth told her to stay really hit the spot.

this same situation has happened to them many of times, but the way byleth strictly told her to not leave the car felt... different somewhat.

what she’s trying to say is, it felt more... aggressive? than before.

but edelgard shakes these inconsequential thoughts away from her head, now focusing on the scene right in front of her, she rolls down the window to eavesdrop.

byleth points the gun at the man, anger vivid in her face.

“what are you doing here, ludwig? answer now before i shoot your brains out.” byleth aggresively asks, she was having absolutely none of it.

ludwig hysterically laughs. “woah lady, calm down will we? i know we’re both carrying a gun but jeez i’m not even pointing it at you!”

ludwig spots edelgard in the car, raises his gun and points it at her. “i’m pointing at her! not you! no need to be agressive now.”

edelgard is well aware of the fact that a gun is now being pointed at her, she remembers well how byleth told her not to come out. but at this point she’s practically being begged to leave the car.

edelgard opens the door and steps out the car, ignoring byleth mouthing at her to get back in.

“i’m sorry, i have to” edelgard mouths back, byleth still clearly not contented with her reasoning, but it’s not like she can do anything about it now that she’s out.

“ooooh there she is! the star of the night! how kind of you to finally come out you brat!” ludwig applauds her.

“you fucking creep, why are you still trying to kill me? isn’t it about time i finally have an answer?” edelgard spares no time, if she’s about to get killed by the man her father works with, then she atleast deserves the right to know why.

“watch your mouth princess! i have the gun too you know?” the bald man waves the gun in the air, as if she wasn’t already aware. “and are we really acting oblivious tonight darling?”

edelgard shows clear disgust at what she was called just now, but more importantly confused over what he just said.

“oblivious? what are you talking about?”

“oh princess, you appear to be so smart! but you’re actually sooo dumb!!” the man laughs once again, getting on edelgard’s nerves more and more.

“stop laughing and tell me, you piece of shit” edelgard’s hands turn into fists, she desperately wanted to punch the guy already.

“since you’re actually sooo oblivious, i’ll tell you then. your stupid father won’t accept any of my requests to improve the business as he thinks it’ll put your useless life in more danger than it already is!”

edelgard is taken aback, her father? concerned about her well being? it’s almost laughable. if her father actually cared for her, then why start a business that’ll inevitably result to her future kid experiencing a life filled with threats and pain?

“huh, funny. my father doesn’t even care about me! stop lying you fucking—“

“I’M NOT!!” ludwig shoots his gun on the ground which causes edelgard to flinch.

edelgard has experienced gunshots being shot near her as a way to threaten her for a long time now, but that doesn’t quite mean that she’s used to them, she ends up flinching, having an anxiety attack on the spot.

“IF I WAS LYING, I WOULDN’T HAVE TO KILL YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE!” the clearly short tempered man holds his gun tightly, obviously angry now.

byleth looks at edelgard, the girl still obviously flinched by the shot. edelgard looks at byleth and she sees her mouthing something to her.

“breathe, this will all be over soon. breathe.”

edelgard does as she was told, she breathes in and out, slowly but surely regaining composure.

“you stupid brat, you’re the reason why the business is crashing down! i have invested EVERYTHING i have in to this business, so if i have to kill you to keep it alive, then i will!”

“oh no you won’t” byleth runs as fast as she possibily can and stops in front of edelgard, recieving the bullet that wasn’t even supposed to hit her.

as edelgard finally came back to her senses, her eyes widen and she feels her heart stop.

edelgard sees byleth fall down on the ground on her back, her left arm bleeding endlessly.

did she just got shot by a bullet that wasn’t supposed to hit her...?

“byleth!” edelgard rushed to byleth, lifting her up by the back. “no.... no!! t-this wasn’t supposed to happen, wake up!! you aren’t going to die on me now!”

for the ten years that byleth has been protecting edelgard, this is the first time anyone of them has ever been shot, believe it or not.

and now, the one thing edelgard feared the most has finally happened, someone is now possibly dying because of her. edelgard never really minded byleth’s presence over the past few years, but one thing is certain.

she felt happy to see someone so dedicated to protecting her, even though she’s sure byleth’s only been doing this for the sake of the job and the money, it still made her very happy to know someone else was there to protect her. even though she also doesn’t think she even deserves to be protected in the first place.

edelgard never valued her life that much, but despite everything, byleth has strangely been able to make her feel like her life actually is worth something.

“hah, how pathetic! now here’s an example of someone so desperate for money and honor that they’d die!” lugwid starts laughing again, not taking any of this seriously.

“well then princess, seems like someone cared about their job so much and actually died!! how sad.. guess i’ll have to take you myself then!”

lugwid approaches edelgard and drags her away from byleth’s body.

“and don’t you even go thinking that that foolish woman died for you, no one would ever care about you so much to the point of dying for you idiot! you’re just a worthless piece of shit anyway”

everything from the moment byleth passed out in front of her became a blur.

she feels... numb, she can’t feel anything, the only thing she’s capable of doing is hearing the heart wrenching words the man is saying.

he’s right... every single word that he says... is right.

edelgard has given up now, thinking that there is absolutely no point in fighting back anymore. she can feel her head spinning with her ears becoming muffled, this really is it. is this just an illusion? or is she truly feeling all this pain?

well, she has lost her life battle, and it even cost a life.

but... has she really lost?

byleth rolls over until she’s facing the ground and uses her left hand to stand up, she wasn’t done yet. the excruciating pain of her shoulder doesn’t stop her from doing what she has to do.

“i.... i don’t do this job.... for the money... and honor.... not anymore.” byleth starts limping at the direction where her gun fell and picks it up slowly.

lugwid turns back to see byleth alive, his eyes turn wide, the sheer fear building up.

edelgard still feels extremely dizzy, she’s unable to tell what even is going on.

“no... no this can’t be! i shot you!!” lugwid drops the gun from the shock. “no!!!”

but edelgard opens her eyes despite how dizzy she is, and sees byleth alive but weak, the girl can barely see the moving figure due to the vertigo consuming her head, but she just knows to herself that that’s her.

“by... byleth?”

lugwid lets go of edelgard, his hands shaking in fear while trying to think of a solution to get himself out of this mess that he started.

byleth grabs the gun, and with her left hand shakily points the gun at lugwid.

“i..... do this for edelgard.... and you pose a threat to... my reason of living... so i must get rid of you... f-for her sake” bang.

byleth finally ends this bloodshed and shoots lugwid aeigr, causing him and also herself to fall.

lugwid falls on his stomach. “no... n-no... f-ferdinand my son... i hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me...”

byleth’s gun shot was enough of a drive for edelgard to completely ignore the headache and muffled hearing that’s been tormenting her, she sees the man that’s been trying to kill him now layed dead on the ground, with byleth also on the ground. edelgard wastes no time and weakly runs to byleth, the vertigo not even mattering anymore.

“byleth! hey seriously now stay alive i beg of you, i won’t be able to live without you protecting me you know that don’t you?!” edelgard doesn’t at all know what she’s even saying to her, but what she does know is that she’s desperate. desperate to have her stay alive.

sirens start sounding off from the distance, answering edelgard’s silent desperate call for help.

“don’t worry, edelgard” byleth weakly raises her left hand and weakly pats edelgard’s shoulder. “i promise i won’t leave you, i won’t be able to just let myself die here and leave you unprotected on this road anyway..” and for probably the first time since edelgard met byleth, she smiles.

edelgard’s eyes widen with tears starting to fill them up, the sudden show of expression making her feel emotions she never lets herself ever show to anyone.

“no... no..!!” edelgard holds onto byleth’s hand, with tears freely making their way down her face. “you can’t just promise me that and pass out, byleth!”

—

it’s been five full days since the incident happened on that silent road, edelgard’s wavering anxiety hasn’t calmed down a bit, the girl still not able to eat proper meals except energy bars knowing byleth would’ve atleast wanted that.

these five days have just been pure torture for edelgard, she hasn’t left the hospital at all and when her father sometimes comes to bring her home she refuses. edelgard refuses to leave byleth’s side until she wakes up, no way will she leave her knowing she never even left her for years.

staying by byleth’s side when her body is unconscious on a hospital bed is the least she can do for all this protecting she’s done for her. it isn’t enough to repay her efforts, but she’s doing something at least, right?

her head is filled with worry and questions, questions she fear will forever be left unanswered if the girl right in front of her doesn’t wake up. it’s crazy how something as simple as unanswered questions cause her so much anxiety. 

don’t get edelgard wrong, she doesn’t want byleth to wake up purely just to answer her questions, she genuinely wants her guard back more than anything.

byleth has been working as edelgard’s personal bodyguard ever since she reached the age of 10, her father never really minded to hire someone to protect his child until she reached the age of 18, but the threats to her life seemed to have made its way to her much more earlier than predicted.

when edelgard was 10 and when byleth was 13, a man with a gun suddenly showed up at the hresvelg house when edelgard was left all alone. the lonely girl always expected death to come her way as she was already well aware of her family’s business, but she didn’t want to die so young yet.

at that time, edelgard stealthily made her way out the huge mansion. but while running, she hit a random stranger along the way causing both of them to fall, that’s when she thought that she really was going to die young.

the mysterious man caught up with edelgard and was about to shoot her, edelgard already came to accept this as fate, so she shakily stood up and accepted defeat.

but that’s when the stranger instantaneously stood up, went in front of edelgard and blocked the young girl from her life’s threat. the words byleth spat out that night are now unclear to edelgard, but what she does know is that that was the beggining of something unexpected.

byleth, aka the aforementioned stranger, was able to keep the man rambling nonsense until an unknown figure finally showed up. edelgard doesn’t know how she managed to do that but whatever it was, it made them able come out that situation alive.

it seems byleth’s gamble worked, and she’s thankful for that.

ionus hresvelg, edelgard’s father, was able to get a grasp of the situation despite having only seen the end of it. but what he saw was more than enough for him to hire byleth as edelgard’s bodyguard, with the teenager accepting willingly.

edelgard wondered why byleth was so willing to accept the offer without hesitation, but it turns out her parents had already died years ago, leaving her alone with no family left, also leaving her with no choice but to accept a good job for herself.

edelgard is now 20 and byleth is now 23, the two have pretty much spent more time together than with their families. byleth has spent most of her years as edelgard’s bodyguard never building a friendship with the younger one, she wanted to stay in her line as just her bodyguard and nothing else. but lately? that seems to be gradually changing.

yes, the two have casual talks nearly every day. but they don’t seem to consider those as talks of friends, but rather talks of two simple acquaintances, despite how increasingly long they’ve known eachother.

this also is another one of edelgard’s many questions, it isn’t quite a big deal, but does byleth still think of her as a simple acquaintance? or has that changed to... a friend?

edelgard admits that she’s always thought of byleth as a mere acquaintance, but after so long, byleth feels more than that now. she can’t quite explain it, but she definitely doesn’t think of her as a acquaintance now.

byleth can’t die, edelgard can’t exagerrate this enough. edelgard has lived in fear for her life for as long as she can remember with byleth being the only person capable of making her feel safe, just the thought of losing her only safe place shatters her fragile heart.

guards are replaceable, everyone knows that, but she can’t seem to see herself with someone other than byleth protecting her at this point.

that brings up another question she’s had on her mind, to be quite frank, she’s had this question on her mind from the moment byleth saved her for the first time, she just never really thought about how important it is for her to actually ask and know

for what reason are you protecting me for, byleth?

edelgard rubs her eyes with tears threatening to come out, not even knowing what to think anymore.

“come on byleth, wake the fuck up already, i still need you...”

—

it’s been a full week now since the incident happened, edelgard has barely gotten any sleep due to her resolve to keep an eye on her still fast asleep guard, she truly wants to be there to see her open her eyes again after so long.

also, it’s not like her anxiety will let herself rest for even just a short amount of time anyway. all edelgard wants is for the woman right in front of her to wake up, is that too much to ask?

but despite all that? edelgard falls asleep anyway.

and without her realizing, an hour after the beginning of her slumber, the girl that she has been yearning to wake up finally... wakes up.

byleth opens her eyes and takes a look at her surroundings, she’s used to waking up on hospital beds with the first thing she sees being the blinding light and the white ceiling, but pain so tormenting is something she hasn’t felt in a long while. she flinches at the sharp pain on her shoulder, she seriously thought she got used to the torment, only to now be proven wrong.

the agony however doesn’t last long, she looks at the couch on her right and sees a white haired figure who appears to have fallen asleep with an energy bar containing a few bites on her hand.

byleth is aware of edelgard always staying in her hospital room to wait for her to wake up, but she can’t help but smile. she isn’t the type to show such expressions on her face, but when it comes to edelgard? sometimes her face muscles just end up failing her. 

and also the thing is, byleth has never gotten into a coma. this has been the longest time she’s been asleep, so to see edelgard on that couch made her feel truly happy.

her smile however, has a habit of dissapearing from her face rather quickly, resulting to no one ever seeing her portray such expressions, but that just leaves her to wonder.. has she ever dropped her guard in front of edelgard, and showed her a smile? she doesn’t know at all, and it honestly bothers her.

byleth spots an unfolded wheelchair practically calling her near the room’s door, she looks at edelgard and makes sure that she’s still in the middle of her slumber.

“i hope you don’t mind...” she thinks to herself. once sure that the younger girl is in fact still asleep, she carefully stands up and uses her spare hand to drag the IV stand along with her. byleth looks once more back at edelgard, and ventures on into the silent hospital hallway.

also, after what felt like the longest stealth mission ever to avoid all the doctors and nurses eyes, byleth finally arrives at the hospital rooftop, she can feel her stomach rumbling but all she really wants right now is some alone time.

the girl was shot on the arm and was asleep for seven full days, you can’t really blame her right?

and byleth knows not how she was even able to do it, but she somehow managed to get her IV to hang on her wheelchair with only one hand, due to her right arm currently casted.

byleth settles down in the middle and just looks up at the sky, lost in deep thought. now that she’s awoken from her temporary death, she thinks it’s about time to finally let herself to just simply.. think, and by that she means to think about her actions a week ago.

the blue haired bodyguard never permits herself to include edelgard in her thoughts, as she believes that thinking about her might lead herself to certain thoughts she never wishes to reach, but she doubts she’ll ever even reach that certain point so might as well take the risk.

edelgard has always been a somewhat confusing subject to byleth, she’s hard to read is what she’s trying to get at. she has always percieved the younger one as blunt, someone who hardly ever wants to talk to anyone unless necessary, but when it came to her? she’s always been so... nice.

byleth’s not sure if she’s just been oblivious to the truth this whole time and that edelgard actually is a friendly person to everyone, but she’s been with her for a decade! and surely by being someone’s bodyguard for that long, you’d be knowing their personality and how they act with people right?

but enough about a thought that surely has been stuck unanswered in byleth’s head for likely years now, it’s time she starts thinking about a change she’s noticed recently.

byleth’s memory of a week ago is as good as blurred, she barely remembers a single thing but a memory from that day that is clear to her is that car ride some time before the disaster.

it’s become a habit for byleth to request edelgard to eat something whenever she hears her stomach rumble, which as worrisome as it is, happens way too often for her liking. she never really wanted to make any sort of requests to edelgard, but when it concerns her health in any way then that’s when she feels the need to say something

but the thing is, believe it or not, edelgard never actually listened to byleth’s request. for the many years that byleth requests the younger to eat something when she knows she’s hungry at car rides, never once did edelgard actually follow. but the long streak seemed to have finally ended that last week.

this should perhaps be enough to explain the unforeseen teasing from byleth, the woman herself is unsure herself why she suddenly even teased her, but perhaps it was because edelgard finally followed her long awaited to be accepted recycled request after years now.

byleth certainly finds it foolish that she teased edelgard, knowing she most likely saw the blush that formed in her face after the comeback that she did.

but for some odd reason, that smile that formed in edelgard’s face for a reason she is unaware of felt.. rewarding. she most likely wasn’t the cause of that smile, but it felt nice for her to see edelgard’s often gloomy face light up nonetheless.

speaking of edelgard, the woman that has practically consumed her thoughts silently walks behind her to check if she wasn’t about to talk to a random stranger.

“ugh! oh thank god it’s you! it really is you!” the cause of edelgard’s anxieties finally appeared before her alive and well, with that she let’s her guard down and rushes to hug byleth carefully.

byleth gets startled at edelgard’s sudden action. she’s almost certain that she has never seen edelgard this relieved in her life, the mere fact that she’s even hugging her right now just doesn’t even feel right, but she’s also relieved to see her well all the same.

edelgard pulls away after she realizes what she did and immediately turns away from her bashfully, trying her hardest not to show how truly happy she is to see her alive. she’s overwhelmed but trying to stay as calm as possible to say the least.

byleth finds herself smiling at the shy small figure in front of her. “hey, i’m alive. it’s no big deal really”

that was meant to come off as a simple random joke from byleth, but knowing how much anxiety her coma caused her results to edelgard not taking the tease all too well.

after some moments, edelgard turns around with eyes filled with tears, shocking byleth.

ah crap, she screwed up.

“a-are you actually being serious right now? you think you sitting right in front of me ALIVE right now is not a big deal???”

and with that, byleth starts realising her mistake.

“edelgard... i—“ byleth immediately tries to apologize, but that doesn’t seem to work.

“no... no!! byleth i don’t think you understand how fucking scared i was! i saw you get shot and land down on the ground with my own two eyes and for what reason?? because you didn’t want me to get shot!!”

all the stress and anxiety building up these past few days finally took a toll on edelgard when she heard byleth simply tell her that her nearly dying is not a big deal, that was the absolute last thing she ever wanted to hear from her.

“are you even aware of how much of a burden that leaves to me?? i have gotten you in harms way so many damn times with what happened last week being the worst of them all, and you waking up on that fucking hospital bed is the only thing that is able to even get rid of these burdens do you even know?!?”

“so the fact that you can just simply say with that mouth of yours that you being alive is not a big deal?? fuck off byleth!! you just simply waking up has become the absolute most important thing to me for crying out loud!”

important... thing?

edelgard takes a seat on the floor and continues crying, the stress and anxiety that has been building up the past few days being vivid, while byleth is at a lost for words

byleth never really cared for her own life, she knew that someday she’ll eventually die and she was never actually afraid to accept that reality. so to find out that herself waking up on hospital beds seemed to actually be super important to someone came as a huge shock to her.

i mean, it makes sense, but byleth never really thought about the possibility of edelgard caring so badly.

she may be speechless but.. there’s one thing she absolutely must know.

“edelgard... why do you carry such a burden on your shoulders? you are aware of the fact that i’ve always been willing to die just to protect you, right? i chose this path... so why carry the burden of my life?”

byleth was sure she had already made this clear to her, has she forgotten?

“because.. you can’t fool me. you’re obviously only protecting me to not dissapoint my dad and to get his money, and if you ever died protecting me you would regret it because that has never been how you really wanted your life to end, correct?” edelgard rubs her temples, trying her best to calm down.

“oh.” byleth looks down at her feet, she can feel her heart shattering. “so... that mindset of yours truly never stopped haunting you huh? i knew it...”

edelgard stays still, still not realizing the effect of her words.

byleth starts slowly moving away on her wheelchair, and by the time she reached the door she stops and slightly looks back at edelgard.

“miss hresvelg... for how much longer are you going to keep tormenting yourself with the mindset that every person that arrives in your life is only there to use you to satisfy your father?” byleth in a million years never thought that she’d be saying such things to edelgard, but it seems she’s been left with no choice.

edelgard can feel her heart drop, she feels like she just said something wrong hearing byleth’s response but she can’t seem to process anything.

“wait... what?”

byleth lets out a laugh, a sad laugh perhaps.

“edelgard, have you... ever considered that maybe there actually is someone that doesn’t like you for your father but.. likes you, for you?”

byleth sees edelgard’s face barely even change, she still doesn’t get it. perhaps it’s about time for her to say the words that she’ll regret later on.

“i mean yea sure, maybe at first i only signed up for this job to get money, but the longer i did this job, the more i started to really realized why i stayed with you and never left.”

edelgard is still baffled, the only thing she can think of doing is to stay still, which causes byleth to chuckle at how clueless the girl really has been. she doesn’t find it funny, she finds it painful to be horribly honest.

“it’s because i saw the terror in your eyes that day, i saw how desperate you were to stay alive.... i saw how much you still wanted to live, curious to see how much this world has to offer you still.”

byleth sighs, preparing herself to talk about a painful memory she has never spoken about before.

“and with that... you reminded me of my mother and father. how truly desperate they looked, as they wanted to keep on living to see me grow and all, only to get mercilessly killed in the end because of my mom’s psychotic ex boyfriend”

edelgard’s mouth is agape, byleth never once opened up about her parents so all of this is purely new to her.

“i don’t know what it is with you, but the moment i saw you that day, i just knew i had to protect you. i couldn’t just let you die like that...”

“when your father offered me the job, i accepted it because i needed money, and i orginally planned to leave when i get enough money to move on... yeah, that’s true”

edelgard continues to listen intently, dead curious as to why she’s even telling her all these things anyway.

“but well, as time went by... the thought of leaving started to slowly but surely vanish in my head until it was no more. do you know why, edelgard?”

byleth looks back at edelgard to see if she may even know why, only to of course recieve a slight head shake from her.

byleth returns to looking at the door, taking a few deep breaths, now preparing herself to say something she’s almost certain she’ll regret for the rest of her life.

“it’s because... i’ve grown to love protecting you, i’ve grown to love staying by your side also to make sure you eat and all, and most importantly, i’ve grown to love you... for you”

oh god.

that was it, that was the last thing byleth ever wanted to conclude. but if reaching that conclusion would help edelgard finally realize that someone in this world is actually capable of caring for her, then she’d gladly take the risk.

she isn’t only saying that for the sake of showing edelgard that she cares mostly for her and not much for other inconsequential things, byleth has actually truthfully grown to love edelgard, the only thing stopping her from actually admitting that is really, herself.

the woman has been contented with protecting the younger one everyday for the past decade, but byleth finds herself getting tired of only speaking casually to edelgard and only when it comes to concerns about her and just other important matters. byleth wants to be more to edelgard than just a guard, she wants to be able to freely talk to her without thinking she’s overstepping any boundaries and be there for her when she needs someone. she’s just also been again terribly afraid to admit that not only to edelgard, but herself included.

also, byleth isn’t mad at edelgard, she’s mad at her mindset. edelgard never showed signs of despising herself, but she most certainly has the mindset of thinking that everyone who shows any kind of kindness towards her is only doing so to satisfy her father.

edelgard’s father, he never really explicitly showed care for edelgard, but she is someone he still considers his daughter and someone who should be kept alive.

byleth has known this cruel mindset of edelgard for as long as she can remember, and it truly pains her to see that this mindset never died a bit. she’s tired of seeing edelgard torture herself like this, so it’s about time she spoke to her about it.

edelgard’s eyes turn wide, looking at byleth with shock vivid in her face. her ears don’t decieve her do they? she heared what byleth just said correctly right?

“you... you what?” edelgard is completely shocked. she isn’t used to hearing byleth speak her mind.

“i’ll be leaving you to your thoughts now miss hresvelg, i’ll leave you to yourself while you process everything i just told you. please go straight home and...”

byleth faces edelgard, a sad smile forming on her face once edelgard finally looked at her. “i hope you start to free yourself from this mindset of yours, and realize that not everyone who shows kindness towards you is doing so merely to please your father, because i myself respect your father, but i care about you more than anything else now. if i didn’t care about you, i honestly would’ve left years ago.”

byleth leaves edelgard all alone with her thoughts, that was the first time she ever left her alone in a public place, but she knew it had to be done.

edelgard stays still and looks down at her feet, processing every word byleth made sure she’d hear. edelgard has one major character flaw, and that is that she can never tell when other people get hurt by whatever she does, even after it’s been madr clear, she never is aware of how much her actions actually affect people positively and negatively. but after all that byleth has said, she finally has taken grasp of the toll of her mindset.

there have just been way too much people that made an effort to became part of edelgard’s life, only to suddenly vanish as they finally got what they wanted, there is one person she can never forget.

constance nuvelle, her and edelgard met eachother when they were ten and nine respectively.

edelgard was absolutely happy to have constance as a friend. the blonde girl was nice, kind hearted and free spirited, she was the kind of friend that everyone would kill to have.

or so.. she thought she was nice?

8 months of a wonderful friendship came to a bittersweet ending when edelgard found out what constance was truly after, money, and more importantly for her family to be known.

this should’ve been expected, knowing how the hresvelgs have always been one of the top families in the shady business, but edelgard was a child! she knew nothing of the sort, has yet to have realized how cruel the world really is.

but that situation with constance was enough to be edelgard’s wake up call to the sick reality, ever since then the poor girl has yet to allow herself to truly be close to anyone, even her bodyguard who she’s been seeing every single day for the past decade.

it’s been lonely for edelgard to separate herself so much from the world, she’s used to it but the loneliness never really goes away. oddly enough though, after a few years of being with byleth, edelgard can say that she’s... sort of contented, somewhat.

wait, hold on. contented?

edelgard repeats the word over and over again in her head, the fact that she just said that she’s basically contented by one specific person’s presence in her life greatly concerning her.

but now that she’s thinking about it, there have been some thoughts about byleth flying over her mind that she never really wanted to keep in her head.

like how ever since byleth started sleeping on the spare bed in edelgard’s room, she’d stop having anxiety attacks so often about someone barging in to kill her, which really helped her sleep better. or how byleth is able to make edelgard eat heavy meals or just anything at times, something her own family can barely even do.

also how byleth has made her unconsciously smile at times. byleth has become the friend edelgard has always wanted, despite everything.

and by remembering the times byleth was sick or injured to the point where she wasn’t even able to guard edelgard resulting to her being replaced by a temporary guard... edelgard never felt safe with them, sure they were professionally trained guards, but they weren’t byleth.

the last thing edelgard wants is to put pressure in byleth to protect her, since all this time she thought this is never what byleth really wanted to pursue.

she didn’t want someone who didn’t even wish to be her guard to die protecting her, that being the reason of her soul crushing fear every time byleth is laid on a hospital bed.

but after hearing all that byleth said earlier, and that confession... everything seems to have changed, and she’s starting to realize everything she she might’ve done wrong.

it’s true that byleth never wished to be her guard, but as time went by, she started to like the idea of protecting her. and edelgard never really realized it herself, but she has grown to love being protected by byleth. the consequential wounds may be deeply horrifying, but she wouldn’t want someone else to be protecting her other than byleth.

“hah... guess i really do love her and her presence in my life.”

wait. hold on, oh no. she just said it didn’t she?

edelgard’s head springs up, beginning to slap herself now realizing what she said just now.

“oh fuck shit! i... i love byleth? and i’m seriously admitting it to myself now?”

oh no, the conclusion edelgard also in a million years never wanted herself to reach, as she never wanted to get attached to anyone ever again after the nuvelle.

but this is the inevitable, she got attached, and without even knowing... 

she fell in love.

—

it’s been nearly two weeks since edelgard and byleth last interacted with eachother. byleth has been continuing her duty to protect edelgard, but neither have had the courage to properly speak to eachother.

3 days after the big reveal at the rooftop, byleth got discharged, and since then they have been alone together in the hresvelg house that for the most part, really only is ever occupied by edelgard due to how busy the whole family except her always is.

the two haven’t had those casual talks they have with eachother every day, they’d only speak to eachother when it was absolutely necessary. but other than that? no, they truly haven’t said a single word to eachother by their own will.

what bothers edelgard the most is how casual byleth acts, it’s as if nothing even happened, although if you’ve known someone for most of your life you definitely will be able to notice atleast just something that’s slightly off.

the eye contact, byleth may not show it much, but she’s been trying to avoid eye contact with her for as much as possible. that is the only thing that has edelgard believing that what happened days ago really did happen.

edelgard has been trying her absolute hardest to try to talk to byleth, but each time she’s about to do so, she can feel the shame eating her up, leaving her unable to even look byleth in the eye. byleth has been avoiding eye contact with her ever since, so that must mean she isn’t aware of edelgard’s failed attempts... right?

well, she’s wrong.

byleth is seated on her bed at edelgard’s room, a few inches away from edelgard’s master bed where the owner of it is seated on as well. both are in the same room but have yet to acknowledge eachother’s presence at all, both also trying to find the right time to speak to eachother.

it’s been like this for an hour straight, the room filled with awkward air as the occupants contemplate on when and how to strike up a long and possibly life changing conversation with eachother, they truly are struggling at this moment.

byleth, as the oldest one out of the two of them in this room, feels the absolute need to be the one to start the conversation. while edelgard, the youngest, also feels the absolute need to start the conversation, as she feels the need to apologize now knowing how her mindset truly affects her guard since she actually cares for her unlike the many others.

after a long time of thinking though, one of the two finally speaks up, now starting a truly serious conversation.

“miss hresvelg...? i um... truly am sorry for all i said the other day, i really should not have overstepped any boundaries and i apologize that i even left you alone that day...” byleth apologetically looks down on her hands, meanwhile edelgard looks at her with furrowed eyebrows.

“why... why are you..?” edelgard thinks to herself.

“if you allow me so, i am prepared to quit my job as your guard tomorrow so—“

oh no, there is absolutely no way she was going to allow byleth to leave her. edelgard saw this coming, and she is prepared to decline her offer.

“no, byleth no. i will not allow you to quit, as selfish as this may sound.”

byleth’s head springs up, finally now making eye contact with edelgard, she can feel her heart beating as fast as it possibly can even though she’s not even aware of what she’ll say next.

“byleth i just... i need you, and i’m sorry. never in my life have i even thought about the possibility of someone actually even caring for just... me, in general. i didn’t think you actually even cared at all... i’m sorry.”

byleth was about to stop edelgard from apologizing, but edelgard signals her that she isn’t done talking yet.

“for so long i... i felt so fucking lonely, my past couldn’t stop haunting me and each time i thought i could maybe try to let go i just seriously couldn’t... even when you started becoming my guard, the loneliness still wouldn’t stop.”

tears start to fill up edelgard’s eyes, she isn’t the type to ever even open up, so everything just feels so.. heavy.

“but then you and i... we got close, and as the many years went by i started to really wonder why you haven’t left me yet”

“and that’s how i came to the conclusion that maybe you actually care for me... but of course, i completely just disregarded that possibility because i knew that wasn’t the case and the last thing i wanted was to jump into such conclusions... but then you confessed to me nearly two weeks ago.”

edelgard gets off her bed and slowly makes her way to byleth’s, she hesitantly sits down at the corner of her bed and looks down at her feet.

“in all honesty byleth, your presence in my life started to make me feel less lonely than before, to the point that last year i just straight up told myself that hey.. i may be lonely, but at least i have byleth”

byleth does not at all know why edelgard even is telling her all of this, but she is aware of how happy she feels to hear from edelgard that her presence has made her feel less lonely.

“i never really understood why i felt contented by just having you around, and why you even make me feel such emotions in the first place but i think now i know..”

byleth isn’t quite sure if she should even speak right now, but for the sake of letting edelgard know that she’s still listening well to her words she does so anyway. “...now you know what?”

edelgard breathes in and out, preparing herself for possibly the boldest move she has ever even thought of doing.

edelgard moves close to byleth and leans in for a kiss, but just before she reaches her lips she stops herself and instead, rests her head on the older girl’s shoulder and wraps her arms around her.

“i love you too byleth, i love you dearly. i always have but i’ve just been way too scared to admit to myself first of all... i started to feel way less lonely and scared the more you stayed with me, and i honestly cannot thank you enough.”

edelgard lifts up her head from byleth’s shoulder, looks at her and smiles. “and more importanly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for staying and never leaving my side and for especially not dying on me.. and trust me when i say i appreciate all of your efforts”

edelgard is proud of herself for pulling off such a bold move, but she quickly pulls away after her confession and goes back to her former place aka the corner of byleth’s bed and starts blushing like mad.

byleth is... astounded, to say the least. the woman never at all expected to ever even recieve a response to her unexpected confession of love as to why she was already planning to quit her job in the first place.

“she... she loves me. she loves me?” byleth repeats these words over and over again in her head until it finally sinks in with her.

she loves edelgard, and edelgard loves her back.

“wait so you um— you love me?” byleth looks at edelgard with almost a grin forming on her face.

edelgard chuckles. “huh, you really are adorable.”

byleth blushes and covers her face with the duvet on her bed which causes edelgard to laugh. byleth might be overloaded with emotions she can’t quite explain at the moment, but she is certain that her heart just skipped a beat upon hearing edelgard’s rare laugh. never in a million years would she have thought that such a person would be even able to make her feel the way she is right now.

the next few moments are silent, as byleth is still processing everything that just happened as well as edelgard, who hardly believes that she just confessed her love to someone just now. the silence doesn’t last long however as byleth starts laughing, not because something is funny, but out of joy.

“wow... i might really just start crying right now, i can’t believe anything at all, heck i don’t even know what to say—“

edelgard, who doesn’t even believe it herself, looks behind her at her now lover and smiles.

“same here, this feels like an actual dream... like are we really in a relationship now?”

byleth thinks about what edelgard asked, and shortly after nods shyly, edelgard like usual finds it adorable.

“well... hey! p-promise me that you won’t leave me and that you won’t abandon your safety when protecting me... ok? y-you seem to really like doing your job so i guess i won’t even try to make you quit...” edelgard bashfully tells her, she’s not sure what she even supposed to say at situations like these at all.

byleth brings out her rare smile for much longer this time. “of course i promise! and hey, i’m glad you already know that i don’t plan on quitting my duty to protect you anytime soon”

byleth whips out her hand and pats edelgard’s head. “and i swear to you that no matter what, i won’t ever die on you and leave you unprotected ever. besides i doubt my soul will ever even be able to move on when i find out you have a new guard after i die anyway”

“also... hey, let’s work on letting go of your past ok? i know how painful it must be to constantly just be used and left alone again when satisfied, but i assure you that there are in fact, good people in this cruel world”

“yeah ok.. i’m willing to work on that with you, i met you after all, so i guess i believe you. plus i’m certain i can get through this now with you by my side”

edelgard bashfully slaps away byleth’s hand from her head which results to them both laughing, just goes to prove how happy the two are with eachother.

the brand new couple spend time close to eachother while having fun for a couple of hours, the two have just spent their time talking about the most random things until a good question finally pops up in edelgard’s mind, something she’s been wondering for quite a while now as well.

“hey b?” edelgard, who lays comfortably on byleth’s lap, looks up at her new lover.

“hm? anything else on your mind, el?” the two may have only been in a relationship for a few hours now, but they already have nicknames prepared for eachother.

“i know how dedicated you always have been to like protect me and all, but on that day when that fat pig showed up... you seemed, i don’t know, way more angrier than usual?”

byleth chuckles. “wow, you really have become capable of being able to tell when i display more emotion than usual”

“of course i can, i may suck at reading emotions and stuff but when it comes to you, aka someone who i’ve practically been living with for a decade now, it’s different”

“do you... really want to know?” byleth starts to blush.

edelgard spots the faint of red starting to form in byleth’s cheeks, she sits up and looks at her teasingly.

“oh now i HAVE to know.” edelgard looks at byleth with that smug smile of hers, which leaves byleth to no choice”

“yea so... you know how that day you barely ate anythting? i mean, you only ate one piece of bread! so uh when lugwid arrived i just got super pissed cause um i-i wanted to hurry you home already so i could uh make you food...?”

byleth is flushed, while edelgard is surprised as she’s never seen byleth’s soft caring side like this, it’s adorable.

edelgard lifts up her hand and pinches byleth’s cheek. “aww how cute, maybe i should start teasing you way more often”

“oh shut up..” byleth shyly lets out which causes edelgard to giggle.

edelgard and byleth ends the day off which marks the beginning of a life lasting relationship on a very happy note, as byleth abandons her lonely bed next to edelgard’s to now instead sleep on the same bed as hers.

nothing really has changed between the two, byleth still fulfilling her duty as edelgard’s loyal bodyguard with edelgard attempting to live her days in full peace, but one thing has certainly changed.

the two are much happier knowing that they truly have eachother now, edelgard’s life may unfortunately be cruel due to her family’s decisions, but with byleth in her life, she thinks that maybe the gods aren’t as cruel to her as she thought they were.

byleth was never really sure on how to live her life without her parents, she only knew for sure that she needed money, but maybe that isn’t exactly just what she needed. she never really realized it, but protecting edelgard became the life drive she yearned to have.

what happens to the two later on? is history really.

**Author's Note:**

> so, you have reached the end of my mediocre creation.. if that is the case, i thank you! here are some random notes that are related to the story that i never actually bothered to add in.
> 
> \- edelgard actually is a college student, but has been doing online classes ever since as requested by her father due to her (you know what) circumstances  
> \- byleth also is a college student surprise surprise! her and edelgard do classes together when they can (also online classes)  
> \- byleth always has a pack of energy bars with for when edelgard gets hungry and she can't be bothered to eat a proper meal  
> \- ^^ for the many years that edelgard never ate them that is, byleth ends up eating some of them and just gives the spares to random people she sees on the street who needs food (energy bars for everyone!)
> 
> that's pretty much all i felt the need to include here..?? uh yea thanks for reading again!


End file.
